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Avid Unveils New Lineup of Creative Music Tools

Burlington, MA, Artists at all levels can more easily create, mix and record with professional results

Avid® (NASDAQ: AVID) today took a major step forward in the way it empowers aspiring and established musicians to achieve their creative vision—however they define it. The company has introduced a set of tools—including the new Pro Tools® Mbox® family, the M-Audio® MobilePre, Pro Tools® SE bundles and M-Audio Oxygen 88 keyboard controller—for a range of musicians who are seeking to create, record and mix music at home or on the road.
Pro Tools Mbox Family: Premium Audio Quality and Third Party DAW Support Provides Customers More Creative Options

Designed for musicians and audio engineers looking to turn their Mac or PC into a portable professional recording, mixing and production studio, the third generation of the Pro Tools Mbox family—Pro Tools Mbox Pro, Pro Tools Mbox and Pro Tools Mbox Mini—offers customers premium sound and open workflows with support for the industry’s most popular DAWs. Based on customer feedback, new features in the Pro Tools Mbox family include:

* Re-designed hardware with pro features delivering best-in-class audio—Delivers best-in-class audio quality, enabling customers to achieve professional results at home or on the road. Redesigned from the ground up leveraging Avid’s expertise in professional studio gear, the new Pro Tools Mbox family also features several workflow enhancements including: A professional-grade soft clip limiter that improves overall audio quality by letting users capture hotter signals while recording; and a multi-function button allowing Pro Tools Mbox and Pro Tools Mbox Pro users to control software parameters without using the computer mouse or keyboard.
* Freedom and flexibility to compose using Pro Tools LE or your DAW of choice—Gives customers more options to compose, record, edit and mix with seamless support for the industry’s most popular DAWs, including Pro Tools LE®, Ableton Live, Apple Logic, Fruity Loops, Steinberg Cubase, and more, ensuring sessions are compatible with studios around the world. New drivers include ASIO, Core Audio, WDM, MME and multi-client drivers.

Pro Tools SE Family: Music Creation Made Easy for First Time Pro Tools Users and Emerging Artists

For first-time Pro Tools users and emerging artists with an interest in musical composition, editing and production, the new Avid Recording Studio, Avid KeyStudio™ and Avid Vocal Studio systems provide everything needed to easily create and record music at home, including new Pro Tools SE software and proven M-Audio hardware.

With Pro Tools SE software included, the new Pro Tools SE Family serves as an introduction into the world of Pro Tools software by offering the same user interface found in Avid’s professional Pro Tools product line. Now, Pro Tools SE software offers customers groundbreaking music creation capabilities that leverage technology from professional-level Pro Tools products at a fraction of the price with a very intuitive user interface. The Pro Tools SE Family, which offers dedicated solutions for guitarists, keyboard players and vocalists, includes:

* Avid KeyStudio—Makes it easy for keyboard players to turn their inspiration into a professional-quality recording with a 49-note, velocity-sensitive M-Audio KeyStudio keyboard and Pro Tools SE music creation software.
* Avid Recording Studio—Allows customers to capture guitars, instruments and vocals in better than CD quality at 24-bit/48 kHz with Pro Tools SE music creation software and an M-Audio Fast Track® audio interface.
* Avid Vocal Studio—Enables customers to record vocals for use in songs, soundtracks, podcasts or voice-overs with Pro Tools SE music creation software and the M-Audio Producer USB microphone.

With Pro Tools SE software, users can:

* Mix up to 24 tracks (16 audio tracks, 8 virtual instrument tracks) and use the included pro-quality effects—reverb, EQ, and guitar amp/distortion effects—to create richly detailed and polished recordings.
* Use more than 100 different virtual instruments and more than 3 GB of audio loops to quickly construct songs and ideas.
* View integrated, intuitive tutorials that make it easy to learn how to compose, record, edit and mix on the Pro Tools SE platform.
* Record two instruments at once, and take advantage of built-in composing features including MIDI sequencing and score editing, which provide professional-grade creative solutions to users of every ability level.

M-Audio MobilePre: Complete Solution Now Includes Easy-to-Use Pro Tools SE Software for Professional Music Production

The second-generation MobilePre delivers musicians an easy-to-use, full-featured studio-quality recording, mixing and production solution for use with Mac or PC. Customers can easily record anything from guitar, vocals, keyboards and more directly into their computer, and have the option to compose, record, edit and mix with included Pro Tools SE software, or any of the industry’s most popular DAWs, such as Pro Tools M-Powered™, GarageBand, Apple Logic, Ableton Live and more.
Oxygen 88: New Keyboard Controller Offers Expressive Playing Experience plus Extensive MIDI Control

Ideal for use in the studio or on stage, the new M-Audio Oxygen 88 USB MIDI controller keyboard is designed to satisfy players who need the feel of a piano combined with the power of a modern MIDI controller. The latest addition to Avid’s industry-leading Oxygen family of USB MIDI keyboard controllers includes the following features:

* DirectLink technology—Automatically maps keyboard controls to common mixer and virtual instrument parameters, giving users hands-on control over their mix and their music, without any complicated set up or user configuration required. DirectLink works with popular DAWs, including Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Apple Logic Pro and Steinberg Cubase.
* 88-note hammer-action keybed—Delivers a musically satisfying playing experience with an authentic piano feel—ideal for playing virtual instruments.
* 32 assignable buttons, knobs and faders—Offers customers complete control over virtual instrument and DAW parameters. Dedicated Track up/down buttons enable customers to focus on the creative flow of recording and mixing music, rather than going back and forth between QWERTY keyboard and MIDI controller.

Pricing and Availability

Pro Tools Mbox family pricing begins at $399 for the Pro Tools Mbox Mini, $679 for Pro Tools Mbox and $899 for the Pro Tools Mbox Pro. Pro Tools Mbox and Pro Tools Mbox Mini are available worldwide this month. Pro Tools Mbox Pro will be available worldwide in Q4.

Pro Tools SE bundles begin at $99.99 for Avid Vocal Studio, $119.99 for Avid Recording Studio and $129.99 for Avid KeyStudio and will be available in the US this month.

MobilePre is currently available worldwide for $179.

Oxygen 88 is available worldwide for $749.95 beginning this month. All prices listed are USMSRP. For more information on pricing and features visit: www.avid.com.
About Avid

Avid creates the digital audio and video technology used to make the most listened to, most watched and most loved media in the world – from the most prestigious and award-winning feature films, music recordings, television shows, live concert tours and news broadcasts, to music and movies made at home. Some of Avid’s most influential and pioneering solutions include Media Composer®, Pro Tools, Interplay®, ISIS®, VENUE, Oxygen 8, Sibelius®, System 5, and Pinnacle Studio™. For more information about Avid solutions and services, visit www.avid.com, del.icio.us, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube; connect with Avid on Facebook; or subscribe to Avid Industry Buzz.